Summer League Volleyball

Jillian had her first summer league volleyball matches with RA Long varsity as an incoming sophomore, playing at Kelso High. She picked up where she left off in the club season, setting well and making serves and playing tough defense. In this pic, she's setting outside:

Bridget was invited to join the JV team for their summer league matches, playing at the setter position both front and back rows. She got better as she went, as she learned their rotations. Plus, she served 4 straight (from the back line and with the heavier ball).

Memorial Day Service

Papa Ken joined the rest of the Castle Rock American Legion for the Memorial Day service.

We watched from up on the hill. It was a beautiful sunny day.

Afterwards, we went to the Legion hall for hot dogs and sides and desserts.

Photo Booth

There was a photo booth at Jared & Tierney's wedding that we took advantage of several times. Here's all of us:

Jared & Tierney's Wedding

Jared & Tierney tied the knot on Saturday night at The Mason Jar in Onalaska. The kids were "The Flower Team", helping little flower girl Kennedy come down the aisle in the processional.

We enjoyed the beautiful outdoor evening with family and friends.

Of course, we got lots of Kennedy-time:

The girls even got to pepper some volleyball with the bride Tierney:

No wedding would be complete without Tor shredding the dance floor:

J & T's Rehearsal Dinner

We travelled up to The Mason Jar in Onalaska for Jared and Tierney's wedding rehearsal. The kids are in the Processional, with Tor holding flower girl Kennedy in a wagon being pulled by Jillian and Bridget.

It was feasting time afterwards on Mexican food, while hanging out with Kennedy.

Kennedy sat with her mom and watched the kids play some football with the neighbor boys.

Flag Planting

The kids joined Papa Ken and Adam at the Hubbard-Whittle Cemetary in Castle Rock to place flags on the veteran headstones.

Track Pictures

Bridget joined a very large group of 6th, 7th and 8th graders for her Monticello track season photo. She chose the discus for her individual pic. Also, Bridget was given with the Most Improved Award for the 6th grade.

Tennis Pictures

Jillian joined the RA Long Junior Varsity tennis team for her season photo. She is showing off her "tennis pose" in the individual pic.

Missing Flag Football

It wasn't how Tor wanted his flag football season to end, with a little stomach bug sidelining him for the day. Oh well. But here's something to remember: a pic of his team ...

Yamhill Horse Show

Bridget showed well in the two horsemanship classes, earning 1st in both against over a dozen other riders.

The rest of the day was a learning experience. She had many good rides, and hung in there to the end.

Good Workers

We just had Jillian and Tor today since Bridget was at a horse show. I had a list of jobs they could do to earn some $. The first job was pulling thistles from a bank behind the shed. Then Jillian raked the path down through the woods, lots of sticks. Next was weeding the blueberry patch. Lots of weeds and thistles there too. 

Tor got right in with the bushes. It was cute that Cookie stayed near him almost the whole time, mostly inside the fence.

Then it was time for lunch and Papa's nap. It was so neat that Tor made this shadow box for a Pokemon person because it reminded me of the girls always getting boxes and rocks and making scenes.

The last job was to seal the Play Fort for the next generation of kids. Tor had a brush and worked on the smaller areas.

Jillian wielded the roller and did all the flat surfaces. The used a gallon and a half to cover most of the areas. 

We sure appreciated all their hard work. Then the rest of the afternoon was spend sitting outside and reading or with Tor playing the bottle game or playing with Cookie until dinner outside. Such a nice weekend!
 

Concert Outside

Friday is Papa's pizza night and a beautiful day to eat it outside.

Later Cale, Erika, and Kennedy joined us outside for pizza too. Soon Julie and Kevin came to visit and hold Kenny, so Tor gave Kennedy a solo on his recorder. Kennedy thought that was very cool.
 

Rocky Workout

Bridget rode English Saddle on Rocky for about an hour tonight, working on her "core strength", according to Aunt Dany.

She rode Gracie for an hour and a half, in preparation for Saturday's show in Yamhill.

National Honor Society

Jillian was inducted into the National Honor Society tonight in the RA Long auditorium, on the basis of having a GPA greater than 3.5, and being recommended by the RAL staff. Jillian is in the bottom right (black dress):

Lots of Jillian's friends joined her in the induction, as well.

Tennis Awards

Jillian received several awards at the RA Long Tennis Awards Banquet, including: Most Improved Junior Varsity, Scholar Athlete Achievement Award (4.0 GPA), and a Varsity Letter (for playing in 3 varsity matches). Here she is with Coaches Wallace, Clark and Jeffries:

Coach Wallace had this to say:

"Jillian was one of the biggest surprises this season, and it was a good one. This girl can flat-out play, and she had never lifted a racquet until this season. She is a natural. The potential for her is off-the-charts. She is quick, smooth, smart and mentally tough. With some fine-tuning of her skills and some court time, she could be one of the better players that I've had the privilege of coaching here at RA Long."

Mother's Day BBQ

We gathered in Grannie and Papa's backyard and BBQ'd hot dogs and s'mores for Mother's Day. It cooled a bit, but was still roasting out.

When we took pictures, somehow little Kennedy appeared in each shot. She's pretty sneaky for a 6-month old!

American Legion Luncheon

Mom, Jillian and Bridget went to Castle Rock for the American Legion Mother's Day Luncheon, joining Papa Ken, Bev and Auntie Greta.

Scorching Hot Football

Tor played flag football on the Kelso High stadium field, and it was a hot one down there! His cheering section elected to sit in the shade of the stadium bleachers, so this pic was the closest we would come to the action. It was a banner scoring day for Tor, running one in (see below) and throwing for 7 more.

Mother's Day Hanging Baskets

Mom's gift for her day was to go to the Lexington Hardware Store and pick out a couple hanging flower baskets for the front of the house.

It's a scorcher today ... nearly 90 F.

Breakfast in Bed

Mother's Day morning started off with the traditional breakfast in bed: donuts & croissant (for Bridget), and Starbucks coffee (for Mom). And of course, we watched Popeye the Sailor Man (the Sinbad episode and the politically incorrect Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves episode) on the very buggy black tablet.

16's Team Party

Jillian wrapped up her fourth club volleyball season on LC Elite 16-1 Black with a team party at teammate Olivia's house in Rose Valley. It was a fun season, with the team really peaking at the end. Here's the team pic (minus Swifty and Jilly):

They had already eaten pizza and had the coach talk about each player before Dad got there (from Bridget's party):

No team party is complete without some outdoor volleyball. Bridget and Tor joined them:

There was a lot to do there! Much of the girls' time was spent wandering the farm, visiting the cows and exploring the forest (in bare feet!). There was also a trampoline that was popular:

It was so nice out, it was hard to pull the kids away. We ended up hanging out with Macy, Riley and Olivia until 7:30 pm.

12's Team Party

Bridget wrapped up her first club volleyball season on LC Elite 12-1 Black with a team party at the Kalama waterfront. Coaches Shantelle and Sarah made it a lot of fun:

Bridget was awarded the Coaches Award for being coachable and doing whatever the coaches asked of her:

The team played some volleyball on the (hot) sand court, with Tor joining them...

and even tried dipping their toes in the (freezing) Columbia River. Bridget was sad that it had to end.

Front Yard Activities

It was really hot today, but was just about right in the evening, so Mom, Jillian and Tor played some pepper in the front yard (Bridget was horse riding in Woodland).

Tor brought out "Timmy" the tackling dummy for some high-flying catches. It was short-lived, though, as it had a leak and was taken in for repairs.